Celebrating Black History: Curtis & Marilyn Gibson

It is Black History Month and tonight we continue our series of reports on African-Americans in our community who inspire us.

If you've ever wondered where some of those sharp clothes on your favorite performers come from you won't believe the answer: Maple Heights.

Over the past four decades, the husband and wife team of Curtis and Marilyn Gibson have used their skills to spin an impressive yarn.

Their list of clients including such local legends at the O'Jays and Gerald Levert reads like a Rolodex of the music industry. Other names on that glittering client list: Lou Rawls, Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, The Temptations, The 4 Tops, and the Godfather of Soul, James Brown.

Curtis gave the Godfather of Soul a suit in 1974. It was a suit the very particular Mr. brown rejected. But over the years, they became friends and partners. The Gibson's became James Brown's sole provider of stage clothes from his famous capes, to his sparkling jackets, to the suit he was buried in.

The advice they would give to future haberdashers?

"Believe in your dreams and don't stop going until you get to that dream you've dreamed."